• Determine if refinancing home would allow funding for home-improvement projects.

• Save for retirement.

Recommendations

• Adjust expectations for college expenses to match current income/savings plan and retirement savings needs. Rather than fully funding six years of Ivy League education for two daughters (undergraduate and graduate work), look to fund California university or state college educations for both girls.

• Consider extending retirement age from 65 to 70 for Marty.

• Reduce annual retirement savings by $3,000 annually and use the money instead to put $1,500 into a 529 plan for each daughter.

• Refinance home mortgage, expecting that there will be a reduction in interest rates. Add $75,000 to the principal loan to cover home-improvement expenses.

• Look into an umbrella policy for better protection of assets.

• Look into the purchase of more disability and life insurance coverage, in addition to what’s offered by Marty’s employer.

• Get estate-planning documents reviewed regularly.

Like many families, Marty Hom and Geri Mu say they spend as much as they make in a month, leaving them with little room to save for future expenses.

Despite the tight squeeze, the San Diego couple, who have been married for 18 years, say they’re comfortable with their lifestyle. Their combined annual income of approximately $150,000 — Hom is an attorney and Mu works part time as a sign language instructor and interpreter — has allowed them to pay their bills in full without leaving any credit card debt, take care of their two young daughters, and save fairly aggressively for retirement.

What Hom and Mu have been uncertain about recently is whether they’ll be able to afford to fully fund sending both daughters to college. Cassie, 13, will head off to school in five years — the couple has about $15,000 earmarked to cover her expenses. The couple adopted Hong Hong, 2, from China in 2010, so while her education is much further off, they’d like to start saving now.

Other priorities

“We’ve been planning, saving and going through the process to adopt a second child since Cassie was in first grade,” said Mu, 47. “Now that Hong Hong is with us, we’re realizing that we might be limited on how much we can spend on their education without taking out loans.”

While their priority is saving for their daughters’ college funds, the couple also wonder how they can go about funding some home-improvement projects in the near term, with little to no extra cash to put toward the effort. They wanted to know if refinancing their 23-year-old home would be a financially sound option.

“We’ve lived in our house for 10 years and still use the same bedroom furniture we had when we were in college,” Mu said. “It’s not the most important goal we have, but it’s something we’d like to get to sooner than later.”